Fort Walton to Panama City
Our next stop was at Fort Walton. We stayed at the Free City Dock. It wasn't bad - can't complain too much when it’s free! They were fixed docks and a park was right there - a great place to walk Traxx. There were a few restaurants in the area, but after paying for the generator, we decided it would be best to eat on the boat for a while. Plus, we just weren't real sure about the surroundings and leaving the boat unoccupied for a bit - maybe a little sketchy. That night, I could hear people talking on the docks. I've heard of people un-tieing boats at the docks - mostly kids doing that sort of thing, but I didn't want to end up floating around in the ocean somewhere.
Our stay at Fort Walton Beach lasted one night - that was the limit, so we headed to Panama City. The canal we were on reminded me of the river system - very narrow and not a lot of boats, mostly fishermen.
Next stop was Bay Point South Marina in Panama City. Our Canadian friends, Malcom and Rachael, greeted us - that was nice! We hung out with them on their boat, Stay Cool. It would be very nice to have a bigger boat so people could hang out with us; well, there’s other reasons why a bigger boat would be nice - I find myself having boat envy at times. But, I’m thankful for what we have and it’s getting us on the loop!
While at PCB, we’ve met So many other loopers, too many to list but a few include Marco and Karen on Navigator, Tina and Richard on Tina B, Jane and Tim on Bello and we’ve reconnected with Rusty and Darlene Russell on Bama Breeze, (we met Rusty at Kingfisher Marina) and of course Malcom and Rachel on Stay Cool have been here. Kim Russo, the director of AGLCA, and her husband Mike, on The Perch is here too. They have a cockatoo on their boat - and I thought traveling with a 65 pound dog was tough!
We’ve fished a little - no luck there; but the Herons have been fun to watch. They enjoy our fishing - they get the bait that we don’t use. I guess they’re confident in our fishing or maybe they know we’ll give them the bait!
One evening, we cooked some blackened Red Snapper in the galley, (we didn’t catch it), but we smelled it for days. Well, that’s what we thought we were smelling. Actually, our main power cord was melting in the socket! We’re lucky we didn’t have a fire! Jeff had that repaired in about a day after a couple of stops in town. We’re fortunate to have a few loopers with vehicles that we can borrow and there’s always Uber.
We were able to celebrate Christmas with other loopers. We missed our families tremendously and we’re able FaceTime with them - it’s just not the same. We enjoyed a dinner with loopers on Christmas Eve and celebrated Christmas Day with our Canadian friends, Malcom and Rachel on Stay Cool.
New Year celebrations were also at Bay Point Marina in PCB. We rang in the new year with other loopers. We enjoyed docktails and pizza. Of course, we were in bed by 9:00 pm and although the plan was to honk our horns at midnight, I don’t think anyone was up for that.
Lots of different weather here! Sunshine, cold, rainy, stormy, windy and unbelievable fog! This crazy weather has prevented us from moving. Although we’re on the intracoastal waterway, there’s actually bays to go through with bigger bodies of water. Since our boat is smaller, we want smooth sailing in those bigger bodies of water. So, right now our plans are to get to Apalachicola, then Carabelle and then make the gulf crossing. We need good weather days to make the crossing. A good weather day means no more than 2 foot waves and wind speeds less than 15 mph., and we want to find that information in a least 3 different weather sources, with the weather window having the same weather conditions 12 hours prior prior to departure and 12 hours after scheduled arrival. We have a couple of routes to choose. One is to make short jumps around the gulf by first crossing to Steinhatchee, then crossing to Crystal River and finally crossing to Tarpon Springs. That’s approximately 235 miles and takes 3 good weather window days to cross - one day for each place. On this route, you’re about 30 miles off shore but you will also be dodging crab pots. It takes more days and you’re gonna burn more gas. Plus, you could be stuck in a place waiting for another good weather window. The other choice is an overnight crossing, leaving Carabelle around 3pm and arriving in Tarpon Springs the following day around 10am, (17 - 19 hours, dependent on speed and staying on course - even a small deviation off course will delay your time). That’s about 170 miles - much shorter, and takes one, long, good weather day - like working a double shift! On this route, you’re about 60 miles off shore but should be clear of crab pots. Crab pots are dangerous because they could end up in your props. It’s a dilemma and weather will determine which choice we make. Of course, we will cruise with other loopers and we’re hoping to fish a long the way!
We’ve had a good stay here - met a lot of loopers, celebrated the holidays with new friends and found a great happy hour at Dat Cajun Place (1$Yuenglings).
We’re looking forward to heading further south and hopefully, visiting with friends along the way. Thanks for reading our blog We love your comments!
$1.00 Yingling is worth the stay. Good reading be safe. Hopefully see you here in Port Charlotte at some point. Cold breeze here today. I remember those days working at Topsail park near Destin. Weather was not friendly.
ReplyDeleteI think we will going through Port Charlotte on our way to hit the ICW at Okeechobee. We'll get in touch with you when we get closer.
DeleteYour blog is great. You write so eloquently. I can't wait to read the next one. Have fun , I just did the stretch from Annapolis MD to Beaumont SC. It was cold but a great time.
ReplyDeleteNice! So are you doing the loop in segments? Or coming south to get to warmer weather? It seems like we’re always chasing nicer weather. Oh and thank you for the compliment.
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